I’m not promoting it, nor should anyone. I know people who have taken their own lives, and I myself feel a bit depressed—thoughts about taking my life cross my mind almost daily. But when I look around the world, I wonder how people endure their struggles.
Take Japan, for example. They have long school days, six days a week, and after graduating, you’re competing with hundreds of others for the same office jobs. Sure, most people eventually get hired, but it often starts as an internship, which can be a miserable experience. You’re not there as a full employee with proper treatment; you’re just fighting for the chance to get promoted to a regular salary position.
Japan’s work culture makes it even worse: the government mandates an 8-hour workday, but everyone knows that if you only work the required 8 hours, you’ll never get that promotion. So people push themselves to work 14 hours a day, every day, just to keep up.
It’s not just Japan, either; countries like China are also known for their grueling work culture. However, in China, it’s usually possible to find a liveable job, even if it means working 10 exhausting hours a day with little chance for advancement or quality of life.
In contrast, Western countries have their own pressures. A degree is often required to get decent employment, and to stand out, you likely need a master’s degree or more. On top of that, you need to demonstrate experience, which means more years of unpaid work, internships, or low-paying jobs just for the chance to climb the ladder. After all that, you might still end up in a thankless job that could lay you off at any time.
Meanwhile, the cost of living is absurd—rent often consumes 40% or more of your monthly income, food prices are climbing, and wages aren’t keeping up. AI is advancing rapidly and could take over many jobs soon, leaving even fewer options. As humans, we’re social creatures by nature, but no one has time for building real communities anymore because everything is an endless competition. Between job pressure, media manipulation, and the suffocating expectations set by social media, the weight is unbearable for so many.
And yet, despite all this, the suicide rate—while tragic—is not as high as one might expect for the number of people suffering from depression. This is a good thing, of course, but it does beg the question: why isn’t it higher? With all these pressures and hardships, what keeps so many people going?
i heard everyone company complain about gen z, but can we even blame them?
Natural selection.
If you decide to give up on life, you won't reproduce. Hence, people are naturally selected to have a high tolerance for missery. Humans are evolved to keep struggling and fighting.
If there is something to fight for, such as loved ones, a cause, or a personal goal, then it becomes much easier to keep fighting. Hence, depression is usually not just misery, but also a lack of purpose.
But finding new purpose in life is very doable. Making new connections with people, experiencing new things, and changing the environment you are in are the easiest ways to let externals factors help you here. Hence why people go on trips to "discover themselves".
As for your example; if during your childhood you are always told how important a job is, it is likely you will set the job as a purpose in life. Then spending all that energy towards it, feels like working towards a purpose and will make you proud. If, like me, you think this culture is horrible, and it should be fought against, then there is cause to fight for. Be the change, refuse those hours, and defy the system by carving out a happy life without adherence to that culture. Be proud of every smile you have!
I'm not saying that finding the energy to get out of a depression is easy. I have been there myself. Especially since a depression is more than a lack of purpose by itself. But I know that if you find even a tiny bit of fighting spirit in yourself left, you can feed it bit by bit. Take yoga lessons, take instrument lessons, find a book club, try a new sport, go on a roadtrip, switch jobs, etc. Don't expect to like any of the new experiences and magically be undepressed. Just experience something new. It took me years go to from properly depressed, to finding joy in all the things I do and learn.
yee, i been a pro athlete, almost highest level of esport, but my athlete carrier came to an end after i got hurt and been hospitol for a long time. meanwhile esport, it took to much time and im to old which manager rather chose someone who is around 16-18 years old, since its so oversaturated, its horribol odds. im diagnosed with languge diffculites, found it after i was 23 years old, my parents never said anything, which probly is one of the reason why i had such a hard time on school other then math and gym. i was maybe a bit far over avrage in basic math, but i just had horribol time to remeber words and setence. i got kicked out of university recently, and i never wanna do school again, my brain just cant fucos when im reading anything advanced, and i just forget it right after.
yee, maybe i will start someone myself, learn some programming and make something that will give value to the world.